Hi everyone,
Since 3 years back I've got these red acne marks on my face. I really want to
get rid of them. I don't want to turn to chemical peeling. Any lightening or
bleeching creams that works that anyone know of ?
Any price will do.

Hi Golden Butterfly
I too have some red areas from acne. In another forum someone recommended the Sonia Dakar line for scars. I haven't tried it yet but I have tried Peter Thomas Roth's botanical skin lightening gel (oil and hydroquinone free). It takes a few weeks but i have started to see results.

hey i was wondering if there is any way to get one's skin whiter/paler (no i'm not talking about the Michael Jackson way). like are there any creams and stuff like that? cos i'm asian (from HK) with the typical black hair and brown eyes and yet thanks to the Aussie sun, my skin is now a horrible shade of brown. i look really awful with my "tanned" skin and would really want my skin to be lighter. is there any way to get it lighter?

There are a lot of skincare products you can get from the Clarins line and Shiseido for that very purpose. But I've always been sceptic towards those because when it comes of whitening/ lightening skin, there must be a certain kind of strong chemicals involved.

You can also make a search for those products at makeupalley.com to check out reviews on how some products worked out for people.

fleur.....I suggest you take a trip to HK and go to a branch of Sasa and just pick anyone of them to try them out. There are literally thousands of skin whitening products there. I can't even work out which ones are good and which ones aren't coz they all seem to have the same ingredients. It's not even just whitening creams that they sell but they also do supplements, masks and the list goes on and on.

I personally don't use whitening products coz my skin is pretty pale as it is but my sister is darker than me and she's tried em ALL. Apparently, the Ponds Whitening duo system works very well as does Shiseido. She also thinks that regular use of whitening masks also do the trick. I have noticed her skin is a fair bit lighter.
I gather different brands work for different ppl but whatever you use, it must be used regularly over time to see any significant results.

I have heard that bathing in really hot water takes the color out of your skin...I think it was actually Victoria Gotti who said that. She was giving tips for keeping your tan by bathing in warm-cold water and she would know, shes practically orange from all that tanning

my mother works in the beauty industry, so if i've learned anything from her, its that the nature line from valmont (especially the serum) is especially skin brightening.

whitening products are just too drying on the skin, and honestly you should stay away from them. They cause wrinkles and early aging in the skin. In fact, after using a whitening product, you may experience more sensitivity from the sun.

you could always use a radiance enhancing foundation, which usually will contain some mild SPF to protect your skin, to 'lighten your skin tone'

if you are concerned about spots or want to even out your skin tone by whitening, radiance masks will help ease the problem, rather than using a harsh whitening product.

and really, you should be happy with your skin tone as long as you keep it even and healthy looking.

But as to what works, I'm Asian too, and in my neighborhood girls are into white skin also. I use Shiseido Advanced Super Revitalizer-Whitening Formula. You don't really have to use anything else that "whitening" w/ it. (I know they sell whitening serums, etc.)

It's excellent, and balances out your skin tone. My only tip is that you should stop after you skin is the desired tone and just use it every so often, as you skin can get "too white" if you use long-term.

On a recent trip to malaysia I couldn't but notice how every single beauty house had a skin lightening product (Chanel,Lancome,etc) over there and how often it was advertised in the magazines. (Singapore Elle,Vogue etc).

Also,how white the skin of all the models on the billboards were,and how NOT white most of the people were.(They were no less beautiful for this.)

Coming from South Africa (and being of mixed race with light brown skin myself) I find this sad and a little bit strange.

I hope you manage to find an effective and non-damaging product for this purpose...or that you learn to embrace the beauty of your own skin colour.

On a recent trip to malaysia I couldn't but notice how every single beauty house had a skin lightening product (Chanel,Lancome,etc) over there and how often it was advertised in the magazines. (Singapore Elle,Vogue etc).

Also,how white the skin of all the models on the billboards were,and how NOT white most of the people were.(They were no less beautiful for this.)

Coming from South Africa (and being of mixed race with light brown skin myself) I find this sad and a little bit strange.

I hope you manage to find an effective and non-damaging product for this purpose...or that you learn to embrace the beauty of your own skin colour.

It's funny how the grass is always greener on the other side. White girls usually want to be tan...and tan girls want to be white!

Personally, I would KILL for an olive skin complexion, I find it most attractive.

I guess it really all boils down to different cultural perspectives. It's true that these products are all the rage in East Asia, mostly because the perspection over there is that it's more elegant to have fairer skin.

But personally I feel that whitening products are there to make the skin more transluscent and to even out the skin tone and not to bleach it.
Now who wouldn't want a flawless complexion?

I find that SKII products work very well for me, especially its treatment essence. It doesn't really make me fairer, which is good, but it does an excellent job of evening out skin tone and giving it a luminous glow!

Another personal fav of mine is Lancome's whitening serum - works like a charm! My pimple scars from teenage years have long faded because of it!

And of course the most essential ingredient in any skincare routine is a good sunblock with SPF!